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50cl Bottles£35.39Available 21st Sep 2015

Description:There are winemakers and there are alchemists; how else could you explain the pureness of Szepsy's wines, the elegance of his fruit and the harmony of structure? And yet, like most great wine-makers, his wines are not about what he does as much as what he does not do. There is no over-working the fruit at this estate, no unbalanced wines due to 'ambitious' winemaking. The philosophy is all about preserving the quality of the fruit and not about enhancement by artifice or sleight of hand.

If Szepsy's fruit traces the purest possible line from the vineyard to the bottle, the man himself can boast a lineage that goes back close to the origins of Tokaji: He is the direct descendant of Szepsy Lacko Mate who, in 1631 was the first person to write down the Tokaji making process.

Tokaj wine region is a historical wine region located in northeastern Hungary. It is also one of the seven larger wine regions of Hungary. The region consists of 28 named villages and 11,149 hectares of classified vineyards, of which an estimated 5,500 are currently planted. Tokaj has been declared a World Heritage Site in 2002 under the name Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape.

Szepsy has around 50 hectares under vine in largely rocky, volcanic soil. Though traditional in his approach, he constantly searches for new refinements in his quest for perfection. Fermentation and maturation takes place in wood. His yields have been described by none other than Michel Bettane of the Revue du Vin de France as "ridiculously low" (we could add, off course that they are Mad!). The wines have an almost sacred reputation and justifiably so as this example will prove.

Producer Information

The Szepsy family has been making Tokaji Aszu wines since the early 1600s. Today, Istvan Szepsy is the most highly regarded winemaker in the Tokaj region. Trained at the Horticultural University in Budapest, Istvan Szepsy became the head of the Tokaj Producers' Cooperative during Communist times. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Istvan Szepsy's expertise was instrumental in the establishment of the Royal Tokaj Wine Company. In 1989, Istvan Szepsy revived the Szepsy family tradition of producing wines under the Szepsy label from family vineyards.

As of 1997, Istvan Szepsy is a co-founding owner and the Managing Director of Kiralyudvar Tokaj Winery. He controls all aspects of Kiralyudvar's wine production, from vineyard selection for the Company's acquisition program to the choice of cepage (the grape varietals and relative percentages that go into a wine). Furthermore, he oversees Kiralyudvar's entire viticultural practice, barrel selection, winemaking, and cellar control.

Istvan Szepsy sets the standard, tone, style and soul of Kiralyudvar's esteemed wines. His Tokaji Aszus are some of the most avidly collected wines in the world. Istvan Szepsy's winemaking philosophy can best be captured in his own words. "I start with the very best vineyards and produce the best wine possible from each vineyard - from each vine, half a glass of the best Tokaji Aszu I can create!"